It’s no secret that comedy is producing some of the best journalism in the world at the moment – think John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight program (well it was, prior to breaking up for the year, but it’ll be back in 2018). Some of the best political analysis is also coming from comedians – from Seth Meyers to Stephen Colbert to Trevor Noah to Samantha Bee, nothing happens in America these days without it being lampooned and explained by comedians. It’s a brave new world.
One of the heavy hitters who gets much less attention, but definitely shouldn’t, is Lee Camp.
Born on an Army base in Maryland, Camp is the host of the weekly program Redacted Tonight (you can follow it here). It only has about 150,000 subscribers to its official Youtube channel – a far cry from Noah (2.7 million), Meyers (1.7 million) Bee (787,000) and Oliver (with a whopping 5.7 million subscribers) – but it’s definitely not through lack of quality, and more likely to do with the fact it’s produced by RT America, the old Russia Tonight program which is a Washington-based channel part-funded courtesy of Vladimir Putin’s boys.
America’s ‘Reds under the Bed’ obsession has been enjoying a revival of late, with breathless media reporting of Russia’s alleged involvement in the Trump election which undoubtedly impacts on the numbers watching RT America. But whatever the truth, Camp’s monologues are genuinely brilliant, and explain class politics in simple terms. He’s a lot more sweary than his compatriots, but also more passionate, and often more funny.
Camp’s latest episode is a case in point… it starts out at a furious pace and maintains it throughout.
Highly recommended Christmas viewing for New Matilda readers, and watch Redacted Tonight closely in 2018. With the growing anger towards American rule, it’s likely to pick up a lot more followers in the not-too-distant future.